


Drivers at Disney - the F1 Edition

by Paige31460



Series: Drivers at Disney [3]
Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Disney World, Gen, Humor, Out of Character, Vacation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-26
Updated: 2015-07-03
Packaged: 2018-01-02 17:24:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1059545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paige31460/pseuds/Paige31460
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A few Formula 1 drivers (and a retired one) are on a fall break so they decide to go to Disney World. Insanity and hilarity is highly likely.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own none of these guys and I don't own Disney World. I only own the plot. This is super fictional. Everybody may be a bit out-of-character at times.
> 
> I love Disney World and have written several "Drivers at Disney" stories featuring INDYCAR and NASCAR drivers that I will post soon.
> 
> Also, be warned. I would not recommend eat or drinking while reading.

“Hopefully we’ll all make it to Sao Paulo after our holiday,” Lewis said at the airport.

“Well not him,” Fernando said, pointing to Michael, “He’s retired.”

“I knew that!”

“OK. Good. I wanted to make sure that you did.”

“Calm down you guys,” Jenson told the Ferrari and Mercedes drivers.

“Yeah,” Sebastian said, “Be all chilled out like Kimi.”

“So… You want them to sleep?” Michael asked.

They glanced over at the Finn who was currently sitting on a bench, feet propped up on his bag and napping.

“Well. They don’t to sleep,” the Red Bull driver said, “But if it means that they chill out…”

“I want to chill out,” Romain said, sitting on the couch and curling up next to his teammate to join him in a brief Sunday afternoon slumber.

“Dude, I don’t think he’s gonna like that,” Lewis warned.

“I don’t care.”

“I see he’s picking up Kimi’s habit of not giving a crap,” Fernando noted.

The Frenchman didn’t hear him. He just laid his head on his teammate’s thigh and closed his eyes.

Fernando, Lewis, and Sebastian quickly pulled out their cell phones with the intent to use the pictures as blackmail material against the Lotus drivers.  
“Hey mates. Bus is coming,” Mark said.

”Where have you been?” Jenson asked.

“Bathroom.”

”Don’t go any further,” Michael said.

Sebastian’s teammate pointed at the sleeping drivers. “What’s going on here? I didn’t know Iceman was that lonely.”

“Actually, Kimi was napping to no surprise of anyone,” Jenson explained, “Romain curled up him like my cat would.”

“We’re waiting to see if Sleepy ever wakes up and sees him,” Fernando said with a smirk.

“Ah. I see. They need ot get up though because if they don’t get up we have to wait for the next Magical Express bus.”

The group then noticed Kimi stirring. He opened his eyes and gave his travel companions a look of “What are you staring at?” He then noticed his teammate and sighed.

He then moved his legs out from under Romain’s head and stood up, fixing his shirt and plaid shorts.

“So when do we go to the hotel?” he asked ever so casually in his sometimes-hard-to-understand accent.

“First of all, it’s a resort…” Fernando started.

“Whatever.”

“Once we get him up and the bus comes, we can leave.”

“The bus is here now,” Mark said, rolling his eyes in slight annoyance.

“Why don’t we just leave him?”

“No Kimi. We’re not leaving Romain,” Lewis aid, “Of course it’d be nice but whatever.”

“Just wake up your teammate,” Mark said.

“Damn. I thought I could get rid of him,” Kimi muttered under his breath, glaring at his teammate. He was ready to check in at the resort, take another nap, go swimming, and then go to the food court for dinner and a drink.

He liked Romain alright but he was a bit crazy. And he was cutting into his nap.

“Quit standing there Iceman! Wake him up! I’m tired and I’m getting hungry!”

The rest of the group stared at Michael. It was amazing to look at him.

The seven-time champion had retired (again) almost a year ago and he was enjoying it quite a bit. He looked fresher and more relaxed without the weight of worrying about racing on his shoulders.

Instead the weight was physical and showing on the German. He’d filled out some and was sporting a bit of paunch in his midsection these days.

“Quit the staring. This is the future for you when you retire if you want to let yourself go a bit. I’m actually enjoying it. Relaxing and spending time with my family and eating what I want when I want is nice.

I plan to enjoy this trip and not worry about calories or anything. All I need to remember is if I buy any shirts, they need to be a size larger.”

“You probably should’ve bought some shirts before you came,” Lewis teased, “I can see your belly clearly under that T-shirt.”

“Hey. What about Fernando and Kimi? They look a bit bigger than me.”

“Hey!” the Spaniard exclaimed.

Kimi ignored him and proceeded to try waking up his teammate.

“Get up.” He patted Romain’s cheek.

“Bonjour,” he greeted when he opened his eyes.

“Get up. We missed the bus because you’re an idiot.”

“You have to understand, I have a baby at home. I don’t get much sleep anymore.”

“I don’t care.”

The others rolled their eyes. This was going to be a long trip.

********************

The group finally got to board the Magical Express which took them to the Art of Animation resort (their luggage would be in their rooms later).

Before the trip, they’d decided to split the cost staying in two different rooms (four in each) with one in each room handling checking in and the official payments (they were paid by their roommates pre-trip).

When they arrived at the resort, after oohing and ahhing (and Kimi just staring), Jenson and Mark got in line to check in while the others waited.

Instead of waiting together like Mark had recommended, the group split up.

Romain and Sebastian were in front of a TV showing Disney cartoons.

Fernando and Michael made their way to the gift shop to check it out (plus take a look at the offerings in the food court).

Lewis was on a bench people-watching and trying to make eyes with girls.

Kimi sat next to Lewis, laid down, and took a nap (The Brit then decided to stand up and people-watch while trying to pretend he didn’t know the sleeping man next to him).

“Done! We’re checked in and our rooms are ready!” Jenson announced, “Here are your room keys. You’re rooming with me. Romain too. Fernando, Sebastian, and Michael are with Mark”

Lewis sat back down and took his room key. He also took Kimi’s and dropped it on his chest.

“Where did everybody go?” Mark asked with a sigh.

The Finn then woke up, took the card off his chest, and sat up yawning. “I don’t know.”

“Vettel and Grosjean are by the TV, the other two went to the gift shop, and, obviously, we’re here,” Lewis said.

“I can tell. I’ll go round them up. Stay here you three.” The Australian walked over towards the television.

Jenson sat between the pair.

“Is this mine?” Kimi asked.

“Yes. You can use it to open the door, charge to the room, and show that you’re staying at a Disney resort during the Extra Magic Hours.”

“Awesome.” He put the room key in his wallet.

“Oh. Guys, if they ask you to put in a PIN number it’s our car numbers – mine, Lewis’, Kimi’s, and Romain’s.”

They nodded, not 100% sure what the heck he meant.

“Oh and you might get some special treatment this trip. The nice lady asked if we were celebrating anything and we remembered that your birthday is this week.” Jenson handed Kimi a button. “Wear it and we’ll see what you get along with birthday wishes.”

“Alright.” He pinned the button, which said “Happy Birthday Kimmy” on it, to his shirt.

The former McLaren teammates looked at each other. He hadn’t noticed yet that his name was spelled like a girl’s?

“I just noticed that. I guess Mark didn’t either,” Jenson whispered, “Are we going to tell him?”

Lewis smirked. “No. Let’s see how long it takes for him to notice.”

Kimi was now staring off into space not really noticing or caring about the world around him.

Or so one thought.

“Those sketches on the wall are neat,” he said.

Romain and Sebastian then walked over and jumped on with them (it was a large bench with no back so they all fit fine on it).

“Mark’s going to get the other two,” the young German said.

“We know,” Jenson replied.

“Did you know that your name is spelled wrong on that button you’re wearing?” Romain asked his teammate.

Now he knew and it took his teammate to tell him.

Kimi took off the button and looked at it, rolling his eyes. “Where can I get a new one?”

“Probably the front desk,” Sebastian suggested, trying to be supportive (but he did find it hilarious that his friend was just now noticing the misspelling).

The Finn got up and walked to the front desk and ended up talking to the prettiest cast member at the moment.

“Are you checking in?” she asked sweetly.

“No I already am check in,” he said, “I need a new button. My idiot friends got my name spelled wrong.”

“OK. Gladly.”

He watched her, resting his arms on the counter, as she got out a new “Happy Birthday” button and took the misspelled one.

“So how is your name really spelled?” she asked, “Is it pronounced ‘Kimmy’?”

He nodded. “Yes. But it’s spelled K-I-M-I.”

“OK.” She wrote his name with a black Sharpie, dotting both lowercase I’s in his name with Mickey Mouse heads.

“Those are very tattoos,” she said as she placed a piece of tape over his name so the ink wouldn’t wear off, “They mean anything?”

“Thank and not really. They’re just tattoos.”

“Oh. Here you go.” She handed him the button which he quickly pinned to his shirt.

“Thank you.” He then went back to his group.

She leaned on the counter with a small sigh. She would remember those blue eyes for a while.

When Kimi returned, Michael (who was eating some kind of candy), Fernando, and Mark were back.

“Let’s go see these rooms,” the Spaniard said, “I can’t wait to see them.”


	2. Kimi, Get Out of the Bathroom

They had rooms in the King Triton building of “The Little Mermaid” wing of the resort (they were the only standard rooms and none of them felt like sharing a “Lion King,” “Finding Nemo,” or “Cars” suite).

The rooms were located on the top floor and faced the pool.

“So we step outside and see a big ugly octopus lady?” Lewis asked, glance at the building across from theirs.

“Yes. We have to look at Ursula the sea witch,” Michael said, getting looks, “I have kids who like Disney films. I know who the characters are. Don’t judge. None of you have kids or have kids big enough to watch stuff like that yet.”

“You know if you keep eating like that, you’re going to look like her,” Fernando teased, tapping the retired driver’s bag of candy.

“Shut up.”

“I think I’ll just look to the left and look at her,” Sebastian said.

The single guys (Lewis, Jenson, and Mark) and divorcees (Fernando and Kimi) looked at the Ariel building where a giant icon of the mermaid was.

“Good eye,” Mark said, “She’s a lot lovelier than the sea witch.”

“We also can look down and see babes in bikinis too,” Lewis said, shifting his gaze to the pool below.

“Are you and Nicole ‘off again’?” Jenson asked his former teammate.

He shook his head. “No. We’re still together. I got my girl and I love her. Doesn’t mean I can’t look.”

“Hm.”

“Corrina would smack me if I look at other women too long.”

“No one cares,” Kimi told Michael.

********************

They went into their rooms and chose beds.

In Mark, Sebastian, Michael, and Fernando’s room, the Red Bull teammates decided to share a bed leaving the ex and current Ferrari drivers to share the other.

“I won’t sleep by the door.”

“Why might I ask?” Mark asked his teammate.

“What if a burglar comes in?”

He along with the other two gave the three-time champion a look. He was afraid of burglars?

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Michael, studying the “under the sea”-themed decorations in the room.

“I’ll protect us!” Fernando announced, setting his suitcase on the floor under the window and tossing his pillow on the side of the bed closest to the door.

Mark took the side of the other bed that was closer to the nightstand so he could answer the phone when they got a wakeup call (and because Sebastian wanted to be by the wall so he could hide if “a burglar came in”).

“This curtain is cool!” Michael announced, showing them the curtain that could separate the sink and bathroom area from the beds in the room.

“I think Mark looks like the prince from the movie,” Fernando said, studying the picture on the wall near Sebastian and Mark’s bed.

“That’s Prince Eric and he does bear a bit of a resemblance. Hey. Don’t look at me. I know my Disney movies. When you guys have kids, you’ll understand.”

********************

In the other room, Jenson decided he’d rather share a bed with Lewis due to being creeped out by Romain and unsure about Kimi’s unpredictability.

They took the bed closer to the wall (Lewis by the wall; Jenson by the nightstand) leaving the Lotus teammates the one near the door.

Romain put his suitcase under the window, sat on his bed, and turned on the TV.

At that moment, Lewis dumped his suitcase by his side of the bed and then went to the closed bathroom door.

“Kimi! Get out of the bathroom!” he begged, banging on the door, “I need to pee-pee!”

Jenson rolled his eyes as he squeezed by him to set his suitcase on a luggage rack and put his toiletry bag on the shelf. He then squeezed back by him to go sit at the table and see how good the Wi-Fi was at the resort.

Despite the constant “shushes” from Romain, Lewis carried on, continuing to bang on the door and begging the driver to come out.

“Come on Kimi!”

“Leave me alone!” Kimi called out through the closed bathroom door.

Jenson sighed as he got connected and started checking his email, the weather for the week, and looked up information about the parks. He was the only adult in this room (though Kimi could be considered an adult… sometimes).

After a few more minutes, the Finn finally came out of the bathroom much to the Brit’s glee. “We have a cool tub. It looks like a cave or something,” he said.

Lewis shoved him aside and went into the bathroom and slammed the door. “Good God Kimi! It stinks in here!”

“What do you expect? I was having a shit.”

“Well yeah. It stunk up the bathroom! If you’re going to do that, do it in the other guys’ bathroom!”

Jenson watched the exchange with a slight snicker. “Does anyone in this room speak with an indoor voice?”

“I do.”

“I know you do.” He shut off his laptop and stood up.

“I’m going to take a nap. Wake me for dinner.”

“Alright.”

Within minutes, Kimi was curled up on his bed and supposedly asleep despite his teammate’s bouncing.

Jenson got out some products to disinfect the room as much as he could. It would stink to pick something up in their room and be sick for Brazil (several of them, including Mark, could say that being sick in a racecar was not fun).

“You got any Lysol or something to spray the bathroom with? Iceman stunk it up,” Lewis said, coming out of the bathroom.

“Shut up! I’m trying to watch cartoons!” Romain demanded loudly.

Jenson went inside. “It does not stink that bad. You’re overreacting,” he said as he cleaned the toilet handle and seat, “Wow. The wall around the tub is kind of cool.”

“I know. It’s neat. Even Kimi commented on it.” He rummaged in his bag. “Well I’m going swimming for awhile. Want to come?” He changed into his swimsuit right there in the room.

“Alright. That sounds like fun but I’m going change in a more private location,” Jenson said, shutting the curtain. He didn’t intend to swim but he would find something to do down there.

It sure beat hanging around in a room with the two Lotus drivers.

“Look at the fishies!” Romain exclaimed.

Lewis went and bugged the others through the door connecting their room to theirs. All four agreed to join them.

That left only Romain and Kimi. He started at the pair on the bed. The Finn was lying there asleep and the Frenchman was bouncing while watching TV.

“Careful. You could break that bed,” he told him.

He stopped bouncing but not because he was told to. Kimi had finally kicked his teammate off the bed. Thankfully he’d only been wearing socks.

“You want to go swimming Romain?”

“Yeah. I want to play “Shark.’”

“OK. Kimi, do you want to go with us?”

“He’s sleeping.”

“No I’m not.” He sat up and rubbed his eyes.

“So do you want to go swimming?”

“Everyone else going?”

Lewis nodded.

“I guess so. If I don’t want to swim, I can sleep in a lounge chair.”

“That’s the spirit.”

“Whatever.”

********************

The group met outside and then went downstairs to the ground floor. They claimed several lounge chairs and laid their towels on them and kicked off their flip flops.

Thankfully, the shortest swimsuit was Mark’s but only because he was so tall. Everyone else’s went down to somewhere between the middle of his thighs to his knees.

“Thank you for the lack of Speedos,” Fernando said, “Especially you Schumi.”

A few of them (Mark, Jenson, Michael, Romain, and Fernando) had worn T-shirts downstairs and were set to shed them too.

“Whoa! That is some tattoo,” Sebastian said as Fernando took his shirt, showing off the large samurai tattoo on his back.

“Thanks.”

The others took off their shirts and tossed them by their towels all except for Michael, who seemed apprehensive.

All of the other guys, even Kimi, looked super fit. He regretted this trip to the pool now. He should’ve stayed in the room or taken a walk around the resort. Or, even better, he should’ve taken this trip with other ex-drivers who were also plumper than they were when they were racing (well, except for David Coulthard).

“Come on Michael. You’re among friends. We all respect you and like you. Even Kimi does,” Jenson said, “I think.”

He sighed and took off his shirt. “There you go guys. Laugh all you want.”

“You look fine,” Mark told him.

“I’m feeling fat amongst you guys though.” He looked down at his slightly protruding stomach sadly.

“You’ll probably make the best splashy,” Romain said, jumping into the deep end of the pool.

“Yeah. What he said,” Sebastian said to his hero, “Maybe you can burn some fat off while swimming.”

“Thank you for those kind words. Can we get in now? I want to hide this gut in case someone recognizes me.”

“Sure,” Lewis said, “Romain – and Kimi – are way ahead of us.”

They looked in the pool. While they had seen Romain’s jump, they never noticed Kimi get in. At the moment, he was swimming over to the lifeguard on duty.

“Hey. Are there any pools at this resort that have a poolside bar?”

The group sighed.

“Has anyone told him that they don’t serve alcohol in the Magic Kingdom?” Sebastian asked.

“Oh boy. When he finds out…” Michael said.

“He’ll just mutter something inaudible and move on with his life,” Jenson said, “By the way, he is going to have a ball at Epcot with the food and wine festival they have going on now.”

The others nodded.


	3. Dinner and Arcade Time

They actually managed to have a nice time in the pool despite splashes from Romain playing “Shark.”

Instead of swimming, Jenson split his time between looking at the different props and scenery in their resort area and relaxed on the lounge chair.

After awhile they went back to their rooms to change and go down to Animation Hall (where they’d checked in earlier) to eat dinner in the food court, check out the gift shop, and maybe even play in the arcade.

They met up outside within 20 minutes of returning except for one.

“Kimi, fetch Jenson,” Lewis requested, “He does not need to shower. He didn’t even get in the pool.”

“I’m not a dog.” He looked at Romain. “You fetch him.”

“OK.” He went into the room. “Jenson! Come out here! We’re ready!”

The Brit sighed. It was because of the Frenchman that he had to rinse off in the shower really quick as he’d splashed him. Thankfully, he was feeling no effects from the chlorine.

“I’ll be right there.” He slipped on his flip flops and walked outside to meet up with his hungry party (he was feeling the same).

“Can we play in the arcade after dinner?” Sebastian begged him, “Mark said no.”

“I didn’t say ‘no.’ I said ‘maybe’ if we have time and everyone is good,” his teammate defended. He already had a feeling he would be trading him for Michael, Fernando, or even switching rooms before the trip was over.

“I guess we won’t go then,” Fernando muttered, “Some of these guys aren’t capable of being good.”

They walked through the Lion King wing to get to their destination.

“Does anyone else think Kimi’s hair looks like a lion’s mane?” Lewis asked.

Jenson shook his head. “No. You’re strange.”

*******************

The Landscape of Flavors food court was bright, colorful, and full of delicious smells, making the guys’ stomachs growl.

“I think I’m going to go off my diet a bit,” Mark said, getting nods of agreement from others.

“We are on vacation after all,” Fernando said.

“All the walking should cancel out some of what we eat,” Lewis said.

The others agreed about that.

They then searched for dinner.

The different stations were pretty unique – one featured soups, salads, and sandwiches; another Italian food (pizza, pasta, and meatball sandwiches); another was just burgers; the other was more unique food items that the guys typically found on trips to Grand Prixes in Asia.

Michael wasted no time and headed off to get a burger. The other seven were stumped. While they’d just agreed to go a little off their diets during the trip, they were a little hesitant (at least, they thought Kimi was) especially Mark and Jenson, who were taller and couldn’t afford to weigh any more than they currently did.

Kimi was the next not to care. He joined Michael in the line at the burger counter.

The scent of an individual pizza caused Lewis to break off and get into the Italian food line. Romain joined him as he was interested in a “create your own pasta” dish.

“Screw it. I’m on vacation. I’ve almost got the world title wrapped up. A burger won’t hurt,” Sebastian said, joining Michael and Kimi.

This left Fernando, Mark, and Jenson.

“It won’t kill either of you guys to eat a real meal especially you Amigo,” the Spaniard assured them, glancing at his friends’ fit but slightly underweight frames, “I won’t tell your trainers or anyone else that monitors what you eat.”

“A meatball sandwich…” Jenson said, glancing at the Italian area’s menu. He thought for a bit. “It comes with a side salad. I won’t feel totally guilty.” He joined Romain (there was a separate line for pizza).

“I’m just going to go create my own salad,” Mark said finally.

Fernando sighed but joined him in the soup, salad, and sandwich line (he planned to get a buffalo style turkey sandwich). Just once he wanted his friend to eat some real food.

They regrouped at a table in the dining area.

Michael ended up with a pastrami cheeseburger, Kimi and Sebastian had both gotten “custom burgers” where they could choose their own cheese and toppings. Lewis got a cheese pizza. Romain had penne pasta with marinara sauce, vegetables, and chicken. Jenson got the meatball sandwich and side salad he’d seen. Fernando got his turkey sandwich. Mark had a salad with chicken in it.

They’d all gotten refillable souvenir mugs and had gotten drinks.

They tucked in happily with one exception.

“You don’t like your salad?” Lewis asked.

“I do. It’s good. Great chicken.”

“Should’ve gotten a burger,” Michael said, “Want a bite of mine?”

Mark shook his head. “I’m good.”

Sebastian looked at his teammate. “Before this trip is over, you are going to eat what we would consider real food. I know you’re hesitant but you were the first one to suggest going a little off our racing diets. You were the only one not to.”

“It won’t hurt,” Kimi said.

The Australian glanced at the group. He liked food and did love to eat. He’d spent years trying to keep his weight down and it got harder as he got older. This meant giving up some of the foods he liked.

He glanced at Jenson, a little shorter than him but still in his situation in relation to weight and height, enjoying his meal. True. He did have a side salad so he didn’t feel totally guilty but there was no way a meatball sandwich was on his diet.

“OK guys. I will eat like I want to eat but I will be good some meals,” he said, “I just realized I’m retiring at Brazil. I’m to a point where I don’t care what the team thinks. Don’t tell them that Sebastian.” He gave his teammate a look. “I can probably work off almost everything I eat here anyway. Like Lewis said when we got here, we’ll walk off some calories.”

Fernando clapped. Romain waved his fork, forgetting there was pasta on it. The sauce-covered pasta landed on Kimi’s plate. He ate it without noticing.

********************

After dinner, they checked out the gift shop, which was right next to the food court. Nobody found anything they needed right away.

They then decided to have some fun and play in the arcade for awhile. Each of them got their own arcade cards with an equal amount of credits on it.

“Let’s have a competition,” Jenson proposed, “Whoever can accumulate the most tickets from their credits gets to…” He thought for a moment. “Any ideas?”

The others couldn’t decide.

“Gets nothing?” Kimi suggested.

“That’s boring,” Lewis said, “What about chooses the first attraction we go on tomorrow?”

“Or they could pick breakfast, lunch, dinner, a snack place…” Michael suggested.

“Is food all you think about now?” Mark asked, hoping he wouldn’t be the same when he gave up racing for good someday.

“No. I’m just making a suggestion.”

“I think we should put together all of our tickets and split the total eight ways. The person who won the most tickets get to choose something first, the second most second, and all the way to last,” Romain suggested.

That actually sounded pretty good. They hadn’t even fully decided exactly where they were going tomorrow. They did know Wednesday would be an “off day” featuring a visit to Downtown Disney and “resort hopping” (visiting other Disney resorts) and Friday (Kimi’s birthday) they would be Epcot for the Food and Wine Festival plus the park was open until midnight.

They knew they were for sure starting the day off at Hollywood Studios because Mark had made advanced dining reservations (one of three for the trip; the other was a character breakfast at the Contemporary resort on Saturday). He’d chosen two for their first day because the counter service options were kind of “meh.” He’d also been undecided between the two restaurants.

They were going to have an early (11 o’clock) lunch at the 50’s Prime Time Café and then a 6 o’clock dinner at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater, likely their last activity because the park was closing at 7.

He liked the Sci-Fi because the theme just sounded cool (eating a table made to look like a car just seemed right up their alley). And the 50’s? He’d read reviews and thought it would be entertaining to see if this group could get into trouble with the waiter or waitress (he had a feeling they could).

“I like Romain’s idea,” Sebastian said.

“Fine. We’ll do that. Now let’s go play,” Mark said, simply wanting to get more tickets than Sebastian.

********************

They’d all managed to turn 10,000 credits each into several hundred tickets per person. The fewest number was Romain because he’d been distracted by the racing games and pinball machines that did not give tickets.

Lewis and Jenson had had several fun rounds of Deal or No Deal and had even gotten the maximum number of tickets a player could win.

Sebastian had switched between skee ball, Deal or No Deal, Colorama (a game where the player won tickets if they chose the correct color a ball would land in (each color had a different ticket count), and Wheel of Fortune. When he got the jackpot, he celebrated like he did on the podium.

Mark spotted him at one point, thinking of where he wanted to jam his teammate’s index fingers.

Michael had done a little bit of everything but actually the next-to-smallest ticket total (he didn’t win big at anything except Colorama the one time he played (of course he’d swiped his arcade card five times to select all five colors – red, yellow, green, blue, and white).

Mark and Fernando stuck together. They’d played a little skee ball, a round of Deal or No Deal, some rounds of Colorama, Wheel of Fortune, and a basketball game (the Aussie’s height had given him a bit of an advantage).

Kimi, the least interested in being there, simply played Wheel of Fortune the whole time. All he had to do was swipe his card and press the button to spin the wheel. Very simple stuff. He’d even drifted off to sleep at one point.

In the end, they’d gotten the young cast member to tally up each guy’s ticket totals to guarantee there wasn’t any cheating amongst them.

“Name the top three,” Mark suggested.

“You, the pointy finger kid, and the blonde guy,” the teenager said, “The least was him.” He pointed to Romain. “Then the old guy.” He pointed to Michael. “Then you two tied.” He looked at Jenson and Lewis. “And then you.” He glanced at Fernando.

Jenson had been glancing over his shoulder at the ticket totals. “The least was Romain. Then Michael. Then Lewis and I tied. And then Fernando.”

“So who got the most?” Sebastian asked.

“Not you,” the Brit replied, “You were third.”

Mark silently cheered the fact he’d beaten his teammate at something for the first time in awhile.

“Then who was it?”

“Kimi?”

“What?” the Finn asked.

“You won the most tickets,” Mark replied, patting him on the back, “Nice job.”

“OK.” He stood there for a moment. “What were we doing?”

********************

Instead of one large high-ticket prize like the others, Kimi chose two smaller prizes that cost less tickets – toys he knew his two nephews would like.

He wasn’t the only one to pick something out for someone else. Mark picked out a cute stuffed animal for Ann.

The others got things for themselves – Sebastian picked out a stuffed bear, Fernando chose a giant lollipop. Lewis got a stuffed dog that looked like his dog, Roscoe. Jenson saw a cool light and got it. As for the other two, Michael forfeited his position and left the rest of the tickets to Romain who got several items including toys, candy, and a train whistle.

“Oh great,” Jenson muttered under his breath, “I hope our wake up call comes before he blows that in the morning.”

The group then went back to the food court to fill up their drink cups and headed back to their rooms for bed.

On the walk back, they discussed their plans for Monday.

“The park opens at nine,” Lewis said, “Guess we could meet at seven something for breakfast and then go to the bus stop.”

“Sounds good,” Fernando replied, taking a sip of his lemonade.

“Are we going to come back after the park closes?” Sebastian asked, “It closes at seven.”

“Magic Kingdom’s open til one for ‘extra magic’ hours tomorrow night,” Michael piped up, using air quotes for “extra magic,” “We could leave after we eat at Sci-Fi and then go there.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Mark said.

“Do we have to eat breakfast?” Kimi asked.

“It’s optional. If you want to sleep longer that’s fine,” Jenson told him, “We’re not eating until 11 for lunch though.”

“It’s fine.”

They went to their respective rooms and got ready for bed.

In one room, Lewis and Jenson tried to give each other their own personal space. Kimi, on the other hand, tried to take over most of his bed. Thankfully, Romain was nice about it and simply accepted it.

In the other room, Michael and Fernando slept with a pillow wall to guarantee they gave each other space. Sebastian wouldn’t stop draping his arm around Mark’s chest, annoying him and making it hard to fall asleep.

“Get off of me,” he hissed, trying not to wake the others.

“But Hanna I want to cuddle,” he muttered. Obviously, he was dreaming about his longtime girlfriend.

He rolled his eyes. After two hours of this madness, he came up with a solution – he took the bedspread off the bed and laid it on the floor. He then took a blanket and pillow he’d brought from home and slept on the floor until Michael got up to use the bathroom and almost stepped on him.

When he returned, they had a brief conversation about the sleeping situation.

“I’ll switch with you,” the German whispered, taking his pillow and placing it on the spot next to Sebastian. He then moved his arm and laid there.

“Thanks.” Mark took Michael’s vacated spot. Fernando was out, snoring slightly. He stuck to his side of the pillow wall and Mark stuck to his.

Why didn’t he think of sharing the bed with his friend before instead of his annoying teammate?


	4. The Start of the First Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this chapter brightens your mood. I think most of fans' minds are on Michael right now. Mine is too. Had half this chapter written so I decided to finish it this evening. Kind of therapeutic for me.
> 
> Thinking about the 7-time world champ and hoping we hear good news in the coming days.

At six the next morning, the phone rang in Michael, Mark, Fernando, and Sebastian’s room. The Germans and Spaniard didn’t stir so Mark answered.

It was the wakeup call he’d scheduled. It featured Stitch and Mickey. It got even a smile from the barely-awake Aussie.

“Morning Mates. Time to start getting ready if you’re interested in some breakfast,” he announced as he got out of bed.

The response was groans from the others.

He opened their connecting door and tapped on the door to the other room.

“Morning! If you’re not awake consider getting up.”

Jenson then opened the door. His hair was a mess and he had more of a five o’clock shadow than normal.

“Morning. We did a wakeup call. Only one who didn’t react was Kimi,” he said with a yawn.

“We did too. The other three were still asleep when the phone rang so I answered.”

“That was kind of cool.” He smiled.

“Meet you outside to go to breakfast.”

“Alright. Want us to drag Kimi out of bed?”

“Please. I’m concerned he wouldn’t meet us at the bus stop.”

“Got it!” Lewis called from inside the room.

They shut the doors and Mark started to get ready for the day. Before he went into the bathroom to change into his clothes for the day (jeans and a T-shirt), the others were starting to wake up.

“Morning!” he greeted.

They ignored him. Fernando and Sebastian were too busy freaking out over the changed sleeping arrangements.

“What did you do?” the German asked.

“Yes! Why am I now sharing a bed with Mark?”

“Mark was sleeping on the floor. I offered to switch,” Michael replied, his mouth full of toothpaste.

“Oh. It’s fine. We’re good friends,” Fernando said.

“But I wanted to share with Mark!” Sebastian whined.

From in the bathroom, Mark rolled his eyes.

********************

The group met up on the balcony with their mugs.

“If there’s enough time, one of us can bring them back to our rooms,” Jenson suggested.

That sounded good.

“What if we don’t?” Lewis asked.

“I guess stick them in our backpacks and carry them around the parks.”

They’d set a few rules prior to their trip – food and souvenirs were bought with his own money (unless someone volunteers to pay), he had to carry a cell phone in case they split up or someone strayed from the group (a very likely possibility), and he had to carry a backpack to the parks for a variety of reasons.

The main was so he could carry his own hat, sunglass case, camera, souvenirs he bought, water, etc. and not make someone else do it (something several of them would try to make others do). Not to mention they wouldn’t completely get separated when going through security and the turnstiles.

The group headed to the food court for a light breakfast since lunch was only about four hours away. Since it didn’t take long to eat, there was time for their mugs to return to their rooms.

“The guys with longer legs should go do it. They’re bound to be faster,” Michael said, taking a final sip of his coffee.

This left Mark and Jenson return their mugs plus the others which was fine as they could probably be the most trustworthy to return. Romain would get distracted, some would take forever, and Kimi would probably never come back.

They left and were back within 15 minutes, plenty of time to get in line for a Hollywood Studios bus.

One was just leaving when they arrived so they would have to wait for the next bus. They decided to stand in line even though the hot Florida sun was shining down.

All of them wore T-shirts and either shorts (Kimi, Fernando, Jenson, Lewis, and Sebastian) or jeans (Mark, Romain, and Michael) with sneakers (except for Kimi, who had on sandals). Kimi, Fernando, and Lewis wore caps. All of them had on their sunglasses.

While in line, they entertained themselves in their own ways – Mark, Jenson, Lewis, Romain, and Fernando were checking Twitter; Michael had downloaded a “Disney Parks” app to his phone and was testing it out; Sebastian was bothering Kimi, who just stood there quietly and occasionally yawning.

“Will you ride rides with me?” he begged.

“Maybe.”

“What? I thought you’d want to ride rides with me.” He’d been giddy about this trip for awhile. He was now excited to finally be in line for a bus to go the park.

“I said maybe.”

“But that’s like ‘no.’”

“No it’s not.”

“Seb, leave Kimi alone for awhile. Maybe he’ll let you ride rides with him,” Mark suggested.

The German then sat on the ground to read the map. Kimi continued to silently stand and people watch.

A Hollywood Studios bus soon pulled off and they were the first people on the bus, giving them free reign to sit wherever they wanted.

The group took seats on the drivers’ side of the bus that faced the center aisle. They sat with Kimi closest to the driver followed by Sebastian, Michael, Fernando, Mark, Jenson, Lewis, and Romain.

The bus ride was relatively uneventful and was quite normal. A few of them looked at their phones, a few people watched, and Kimi took a catnap.

They soon arrived at the Hollywood Studios. After letting the passengers standing get off, the group started to make their way out.

Sebastian nudged Kimi.

“What?” he asked.

“We’re here.”

“OK.”

He was the last park guest off the bus.

********************

After getting through the bag check and turnstiles, the guys regrouped near one of the shops on Hollywood Boulevard.

“So… What do we want to do first?” Fernando asked.

“I’m thinking get a Fastpass somewhere,” Jenson suggested. He checked his app. “Seems like the best choices would be Tower of Terror, Rock n Roller Coaster, or Toy Story Midway Mania. Take your pick guys.”

“Why don’t we take a vote,” Michael said, “All in favor of Toy Story Mania, raise your hands.”

Sebastian raised his hand as did Romain and Lewis. 

“It’s hard to get on,” the Brit explained.

Upon hearing that, Mark raised his, bringing the total to four.

“Rock n Roller Coaster?”

Fernando and Jenson raised theirs. Two.

“Tower of Terror?”

Nobody raised their hands.

“Then I guess…”

“Kimi didn’t vote and neither did you!” Sebastian blurted out.

“What are we voting for?” he asked.

The others sighed.

“We’re voting on what ride we want to get Fastpasses for,” Mark explained, “It’s really down to Toy Story Mania or Rock n Roller Coaster.”

“What is the Fastpass?”

Romain shoved his map in Kimi’s face, showing him the brief description of the service and the system.

“OK. I can see.”

“So what do you pick?” Fernando asked.

“The roller coaster.”

The vote was now four for Toy Story Mania and three for Rock n Roller Coaster.

“What do you think Schumi?” Jenson asked.

“I’m going to ride everything but I’m kind of excited about the Toy Story ride. That’s the one I pick.”

So that was settled. They set off for the ride’s Fastpass kiosk in the Pixar Place area.

“What a minute,” Fernando said as they walked, “We’re grown men and getting Fastpasses for a kiddie ride?”

“But we’re all kids at heart,” Sebastian said with a smile.

“I have to agree with that. I’m a 44 year old child,” Michael added.

“This is weird,” Kimi muttered in reference to the German champions’ banter.

********************

They got Fastpasses with times after their early lunch so the group decided to explore the park. They had a few hours before their dining reservations so they debated on what to do.

“Characters!” Romain squealed.

“Roller coaster!” Fernando argued.

“Star Tours,” Lewis suggested.

“There’s the Great Movie Ride,” Jenson mentioned

“Little Mermaid,” Sebastian said.

“I like Jenson’s idea,” Michael noted.

“Now I want to see Tower of Terror,” Mark told them.

“Can we sleep?” Kimi asked.

They studied the guide map and took Fernando’s, Lewis’, Jenson’s and Michael’s, Sebastian’s, and Mark’s ideas into consideration. Romain’s was good but not quite their idea of starting off their visit to Hollywood Studios. 

As for Kimi’s, it was typical and a waste of time. He was going to go see a show (where he could nap if he wished) or ride something.

“This is where we’re eating,” Mark noted, pointing to the location of the Prime Time Café, “We could probably see the Little Mermaid after we use our Fastpasses. We could also do the roller coaster and Tower of Terror.”

“We could do the Great Movie Ride and Star Tours before lunch!” Michael exclaimed, “Then if we have time, we could see that Muppet 3-D show.”

“I like it,” Jenson said, “The man has a plan.”


	5. Journey Through the Movies

The group headed out of Pixar Place through an area called Animation Courtyard that had several attractions including the Voyage of the Little Mermaid show they wanted to see later.

They found themselves back on Hollywood Boulevard near the Chinese Theatre that housed the attraction that would be the guys’ first – The Great Movie Ride.

When they got to the entrance to the building that looked like a theatre lobby, the line split into two sections – one going left; one going right.

“I wonder which way we go,” Lewis wondered out loud, cocking his head to one side like his dog, Roscoe, occasionally did when he was curious.

“I don’t think it matters,” Jenson replied.

“I’ll pick it,” Sebastian said. He pointed to the line he wanted to get in “Right!”

“OK. We go right,” Kimi said, creating the longest sentence he’d spoken all day.

The line snaked around some displays featuring costumes or props from different.

“This better not be the ride,” Romain pouted.

“I’m sure it’s not,” Michael told him, “The ride description says it’s a ‘journey into the movies,’ whatever that means.”

As they went through the line, the moved from the lobby to what looked like a screening room. On a large screen were trailers of several different films – “Mary Poppins,” “Alien,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Singin’ in the Rain,” “Footlight Parade,” “Fantasia,” and “Casablanca” – which all of the guys watched with interest.

“Michael? Mark?” Fernando asked.

“Yes?” the German and Australian said in unison.

“Where your movies in black and white when you were growing up?”

“Don’t even…” Mark warned his friend.

“We’re not that old,” Michael insisted, “We had color films. Some black and white, but mostly color.”

********************

They finally made it to some double doors where they were led to an area that looked like a set. They were then directed to two rows in the ride vehicle.

Michael, Sebastian, Kimi, and Romain sat on one row and Lewis, Jenson, Mark, and Fernando sat behind them.

When all of the rows were filled a cast member got into the front seat of the ride vehicle and turned to face the group.

“Hello everyone,” she greeted in a bubbly voice, My name is Sarah and I’ll be your tour guide on our journey through the movies.”

“How will we…”

“Shut Seb,” Kimi requested, “You find out.”

Within moments after Sarah stopped talking, the overhead lights went out and a Hollywood backdrop on a wall to their left and movie marquee ahead of them illuminated. “Hooray for Hollywood” also began playing as background music.

She sat down and the tram began moving towards the marquee which turned out to be an archway to the first scenes.

First, they went through an area with scenes from musicals that they’d seen trailers for while in line – “Footlight Parade” and “Singin’ in the Rain.”

They then rode through a scene from “Mary Poppins.”

“Stop it,” Lewis said, trying to get Michael’s attention. The German was singing the song playing and swaying from side to side slightly.

“You’re not fun,” he muttered, stopping as the tram moved through another scene.

“Oh… Hold on to your wallets and purses ladies and gentleman. This doesn’t look like a good part of town,” Sarah said, “Actually it looks more like the underworld…”

She then went on to talk about how this set was similar to several popular gangster films.

“Kimi, hold me,” Romain begged.

“Go away.”

The tram stopped at a “red light.” As if on cue, a bank robbery was taking place. A gangster appeared and asked for Sarah to leave the tram, which she did after a little threatening.

“So cool,” Jenson muttered. He was impressed.

Chaos then ensued and instead of their driver, the gangster climbed onto the tram.

“Not as cool,” Lewis noted.

The gangster then moved the tram from this area to the next.

“What that?” she questioned when they rode through a western-themed area.

Michael, who had a ranch in Austin, was loving it.

“You’d make a good cowboy,” Fernando said to Mark, “Tall, dark, mysterious, and handsome.”

“OK.” The Australian rolled his eyes.

Kimi fell asleep.

They went into another area.

“This is ‘Alien,’” the voiceover said. It then described the film.

“Warning: do not leave your vehicle. The area is extremely dangerous.”

At various spots, the alien would stick its head out. One spot was above the tram occupants’ heads. Some guests that experienced that were the guys.

Everyone but Kimi was startled but three screamed.

Sebastian and Romain, based on their previous reactions, was understandable. One, though, was unexpected and uncharacteristically loud which woke the Finn from his slumber.

The group and other guests started at Lewis.

“Sorry.”

The tram moved on to an Indiana Jones-themed section and stopped by a temple with a jewel in it.

The gangster couldn’t resist getting out of the tram with intent to steal it.

“But the jewel is guarded by a course…” a voiceover said.

Near the top of the temple, she was encountered by a hooded figure. Despite words of caution, she reached up to grab the jewel and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

When it cleared, there was a skeleton leaning against the temple and Sarah was standing there. She came down and got back on the tram. The occupants clapped (except Kimi who nodded with a slightly impressed expression).

“That just goes to show that anything can happen in the movies,” she said.

The tram began moving again. They went through an area dedicated to horror movies and then a Tarzan-themed area.

The next area was the final scene from “Casablanca,” with animatronic characters.

The drivers in their early 30s and younger looked at Michael, figuring he would remember the film most.

“Why me?” the German asked, “This film is WAY older than all of us, even Mark and me.”

“Hey!” Mark piped up.

Their arguing was interrupted when the group recognized the colorful scenery of Munchkinland from “The Wizard of Oz.”

Kimi, who’d again fallen asleep after the “Indiana Jones” seen, stirred.

“What the heck?” he wondered as he looked around. 

His sleepiness disappeared when the tram stopped and, out of nowhere, the Wicked Witch of the West popped up, making some occupants jump (and Sebastian yelp).

“Who killed my sister? Who killed the Witch of the East? Was it you?” She pointed to Sarah.

“No! I didn’t kill anybody,” she insisted.

The exchanged continued for a few more lines.

“I’ll get you my pretty and your little dog too!” The witch cackled before disappearing in a cloud of red smoke.

“Where do we go now?” Sarah asked.

“Follow the yellow brick road!” some enthusiastic park guests (and Romain and Sebastian) exclaimed.

“Follow the yellow brick road,” a munchkin said.

“Follow the yellow brick road?” she asked.

The munchkins started singing.

“Sing along. You know the words,” Sarah said as she sat down and the tram began moving again.

“Follow the yellow brick road. Follow the yellow brick road. Follow. Follow. Follow. Follow the yellow brick road. Follow the yellow brick. Follow the yellow brick. Follow the yell brick road.”

Of the group of drivers, everyone had joined in the singing (some lip-syncing, some quietly, and some loudly) except for one.

Kimi just stared at them like they were all idiots.

“You’re off to see the wizard. The wonderful wizard of Oz…”

The last part of the ride included a montage of clips of classic, well-known movies.

Afterwards, the ride was over.

“There’s one last scene to film today and that would be the exit. When the ride vehicles come to a complete stop and the doors open, rise dramatically to your feet and give a big round of applause!” Sarah said excitedly.

When the ride did just that, the group stood up but Romain and Sebastian were the only ones that started applauding wildly. The others, even Kimi, simply clapped.

“Have a wonderful day here at Disney Hollywood Studios!”

*******************

After they excited, the group discussed what to do next.

“Didn’t we discuss doing Star Tours?” Lewis asked.

“We could until after lunch…” Kimi suggested. It was only about 45 minutes until their lunch reservation.

“Not right after. It’s one of those rougher rides,” Jenson said.

“Let’s go shopping!” Michael exclaimed, “It would be a great time killer before we go eat lunch.”

“Sounds good but, please, never ever squeal ‘Let’s go shopping!’ ever again,” Lewis begged.


End file.
